Darrell Crone, 31, shook his head as he entered the capacity-packed courtroom in shackles. Behind him sat row upon row of Loper’s extended family, including his grief-stricken mother and father.

“We’re trying our best to get through this, and to hopefully get closure,” said Timothy Loper Sr., standing outside Camden County Courthouse following the brief hearing. “We’re a close-knit family."

According to his father, Loper was a decorated veteran, who served four years in Afghanistan.

“It’s hard to explain how we feel at this time — it’s a long, drawn-out process,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the state, Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah presented Crone as a chronic repeat offender who has spent the majority of his adult life in state prison.

Shah stated the prosecutor’s office has two witness testimonies — from people “who have known him for years” — identifying Crone as the man shown in security camera footage outside the 20 Horse Tavern in Camden, firing the fatal gunshots before placing the handgun in the waistband of his pants and climbing into an SUV.

She added that a third witness positively identified Crone as the shooter from a picture. In addition, the witness stated Crone drives a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban.

“On Dec. 1, an autopsy was conducted by Gerald Feigin MD, on behalf of the Camden County Medical Examiner’s Office. Dr. Feigin determined that the cause of Mr. Loper’s death was a gunshot wound to the back and ruled that the manner of his death was homicide,” said Shah.

Reacting to the news that his son was shot in the back, Loper Sr., speaking outside the courthouse said, “It says to me that the person who shot him was a coward.”

Superior Court Judge Edward McBride, who presided over the arraignment, said bail has been set at $2 million full cash.

The prosecution had requested bail be paid in full cash citing Crone’s prior record, which includes a 1999 juvenile conviction for eluding police, and two state prison sentences for armed robbery and unlawful possession of a handgun.

He was most recently released from prison on March 25 of this year.

“(Crone) has been an adult for 13 years, and he has spent nearly 11 of them in state prison,” said Shah. “We consider him an extreme flight risk.”

Crone’s attorney, Scott R. Cohen, speaking after the hearing, said the prosecution has yet to prove that his client is the person shown in the security camera footage firing the gun.

“They don’t have him on video shooting — they have people telling them it was him,” said Cohen, who also stated the 20 Horse Tavern searches all of its customers upon entrance.

“If someone in there had a gun on them, it would have to be well-hidden,” he said.

Cohen said he was not disputing that Crone had been inside the tavern, as he is shown in security camera footage entering the bar shortly before midnight, hours before the shooting early Sunday morning.

According to the defense attorney, Crone has one child and was unemployed at the time of the shooting.

“I believe he was training to become a boxer,” he said.

According to the prosecution, Loper had been at the tavern to attend a birthday party. As the bar was closing, at approximately 2:30 a.m., Loper was seen by the security camera system standing in the bar’s parking lot with two women.

A fight broke out in the parking lot. However, neither Loper nor Crone were initially involved in the altercation, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Loper was reportedly shot while attempting to break up the fight. Police were dispatched to the bar at approximately 2:45 a.m. Loper was declared dead at 3:04 a.m. at Cooper University Hospital.

Services for the family are scheduled for Friday.

“I just want (the services) to be memorable,” said Loper’s father. “He deserves that.”